Ashiatsu is a barefoot massage technique, ashi meaning foot and atsu meaning pressure, where the therapist applies deep strokes using their feet rather than their hands. Ashiatsu is an ancient form of bodywork, dating back centuries in India, Asia, and Africa, that is only now growing popularity in the western world. Because of its intensity, Ashiatsu has been shown to eliminate or relieve hip and back pain by elongating the spine, stretching shortened muscles, and removing pressure from the nerve. Ashiatsu is a safe form of bodywork that will leave you feeling refreshed and pain free.

Sports massage is designed to enhance athletic performance and recovery. There are three contexts in which sports massage can be useful to an athlete: pre-event, post-event, and injury treatment. Pre-event massage is delivered at the performance site, usually with the athlete fully clothed. Fast-paced and stimulating, it helps to increase blood flow and warm up muscles. Post-event massage is also delivered on site, through the clothes. The intent is to calm the nervous system and begin the process of flushing toxins and waste products out of the body. Post-event massage can reduce recovery time, enabling an athlete to resume training much sooner than rest alone would allow. When an athlete sustains an injury, skillful massage therapy can often speed and improve the quality of healing.

Based on the work of Dr. Ida P. Rolf, structural integration is based on the idea that the entire structural order of the body needs to be realigned and balanced with the gravitational forces around a central vertical line representing gravity’s influence. Therapeutic intervention is directed toward the myofascial system–the ligaments, muscles, tendons, and surrounding connective tissues. A practitioner of structural integration has a ten-session cycle of work in which different angles and degrees of physical pressure are used to stretch and guide fascia to a place of easier movement. The process is not intended to cure symptoms; its goal is to create a more resilient, higher-energy system, free of inhibitions due to past trauma.

Trigger point is a noninvasive therapeutic modality for the relief and control of myofascial pain and dysfunction. The goal of treatment is the client’s recovery from, or a significant reduction in, myofascial pain. The goal is achieved through a systemized approach. Treatment consists of trigger point compression, myomassage, passive stretching, and corrective exercises. Success may be measured subjectively by the level of pain reduction experienced by the client and objectively through increased range of motion, strength, endurance, and other measures of improved function. Trigger point myotherapy relies heavily on client-therapist interaction, including verbal and nonverbal elements. The myotherapist encourages the client to be personally responsible for their improvement, with attention to such factors as nutritional intake, stress, proper exercises, mechanical abnormalities, and other physical components.

Like Ashiatsu Massage, the therapist uses their feet to apply pressure to the body, resulting in a deep tissue massage. Unlike Ashiatsu, with Fijian, the body is compressed, stretched and pulled, and rocked. The recipient remains clothed, so wear loose, comfortable clothing to receive the full benefit of this technique. Fijian Barefoot Massage reduces chronic back pain by gently stretching the muscles around the spine to ease tightness and pain.